The bulk of NHL free agency movement occurs within 24 hours of the market opening, so now that we’re a week removed from July 1, it’s safe to start casting judgment on what went down across the league.
With a weak UFA class, this hasn’t been the splashiest offseason for anybody, but here are a few standout winners and losers (so far) of the offseason.
Winner: Carolina Hurricanes
The East was Carolina’s to win this spring after Boston sputtered, but the Canes couldn’t quite learn from the Bruins’ slip-up against Matthew Tkachuk. So what did Carolina do? Land the top defenseman available from Boston, naturally. Dmitry Orlov joins Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin on the blueline at two years, $7.75 million AAV, and forward Michael Bunting bolsters the scoring depth of a team that couldn’t find a timely goal in the ECF. If Vladimir Tarasenko ends up in Raleigh, as has been rumored, then the storm might finally surge back to the Cup Final.
Loser: Detroit Red Wings
J.T. Compher’s new five-year, $25.5 million deal was well-earned, but was Detroit the right team to give it to him? Seemingly stuck somewhere between win-now and rebuild mode, the Red Wings needed a high-end scorer but instead spent on Compher, whose fit in the Detroit lineup isn’t totally clear. There’s already an apparent 1C and 2C with Dylan Larkin and Andrew Copp. Does that mean Compher, one of the NHL’s highest-usage forwards last season, is about to play on a mediocre team’s third line with such a big contract? Does he move to right wing on the second line a year after he grew into a top-six center role? Defenseman Justin Holl at $3.4 million AAV was just as odd a signing.
Winner: Dallas Stars
Matt Duchene was one of the most baffling buyouts in recent memory, so Dallas snagged him at a one-year, $3 million mega-bargain from within the division after the Predators’ new management decided it preferred Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist. The Stars let Max Domi walk (he got the same deal in Toronto that Duchene got in Dallas), but they kept Evgenii Dadonov on a smart two-year extension. With stars at forward, defense and goalie, plus plenty of depth and experience, this might be the most complete team in the West.
Loser: Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto is showing up as a winner on plenty of these lists. Indeed, it’s difficult to knock the one-year additions of Tyler Bertuzzi and Max Domi. But after hailing the Leafs as clear trade deadline winners in March, no more Kool-Aid will be consumed here. Consider their other activity. Three years of Ryan Reaves, a player in decline, has liability potential by the end (or at the beginning). He’ll be 40. And John Klingberg didn’t work out at all for Minnesota after the deadline last season. He’s an expensive defenseman whose defense is extremely flawed. Meanwhile, Toronto lost O’Reilly, Bunting, Luke Schenn, Alex Kerfoot, Noel Acciari and Erik Gustafsson. Eh.
Winner: New Jersey Devils
The biggest overreaction of the offseason (or is it a proper reaction?) is that New Jersey is ready to win the Stanley Cup next spring. They committed long-term to Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt while trading for Tyler Toffoli, emerging with a forward core that consists of Meier, Bratt, Toffoli, Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier and Ondrej Palat. And none of them have a cap hit higher than $8.8 million.
Loser: New York Islanders
The theme of this free agency cycle has been short-term contracts, as front offices and players bide their time before next year’s anticipated substantial salary cap increase. Lou Lamoriello zagged. The Islanders gave seven-year deals to both Pierre Engvall and Scott Mayfield. One is a forward who has averaged 12:54 of ice time in his career; the other is a 30-year-old, bottom-four defenseman. Not to mention a four-year extension for 35-year-old backup goalie Semyon Varlamov. Maybe the contracts turn out to be good value after the cap spike, but right now they look like peculiar risks for a playoff team to take.
Tentative winner: Edmonton Oilers
After another postseason in Connor McDavid’s career went to waste, the Oilers moved on from Kailer Yamamoto and attempted to upgrade at second-line right wing with Connor Brown, whose AAV is $4 million thanks to bonuses but while only carrying a $775,000 cap hit. For a team that was stuck in salary cap quicksand, that’s a huge win. Edmonton also took a chance on Lane Pederson as a fourth-line center.
Loser: Twitter
Among other things, the first day of free agency is meant to be a fun, chaotic, communal online experience for hockey fans. It was taken away this year by the inconveniently timed “rate limit” impediment on Twitter. Major meltdown for the app, but a sneaky win for one Avalanche beat writer who suddenly didn’t have to worry about constantly scrolling the web July 1 while attending a friend’s wedding.
Neutral: Colorado Avalanche
Maybe the Miles Wood six-year contract will sour the same way the Islanders’ long-term deals might. Maybe Ryan Johansen won’t fix the 2C problem. Maybe Jonathan Drouin won’t return to vintage form, and the Avs will be doing this all over again next summer. Or maybe these fringe signings will turn out to be exactly the change Colorado needed. Pundits’ reviews have been largely positive toward the Avs. From up close, it feels like the jury’s still out.
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